Talk:White phosphorus munition
It is a matter of dispute if the white phosphorus used in a destructive way is to be considerated banned by the O.N.U. treaty on chemical weapons and by the Geneva treaty of 1980. So i question the phrase "is not subject to any treaty". In iraq it seems it was used on civilian populations, so i think that should be mentioned in the article too.
I think that it's too soon to know what happened for sure. Consider this debunking. --JSleeper 23:46, 9 November 2005 (UTC)
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With 'seems' being the correct term. It is not specifically banned, so in a war situation it can be used.
http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/legal/cw/cwindex.html
"Incendiary agents such as napalm and phosphorus are not considered to be CW agents since they achieve their effect mainly through thermal energy."
white phosphorus is a form of phosphorus, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phosphorus
" The most common are red and white phosphorus, both of which consist of networks of tetrahedrally arranged groups of four phosphorus atoms."
It is not specifically listed on the CWC treaty negotiated 1980-1992 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemical_Weapons_Convention
The treaty of 1980 appears to be The 1980 United Nations Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) http://www.ccwtreaty.com/ The CCW treaty, Protocol III seems to be the source of dispute http://www.ccwtreaty.com/protocol3.html
BBC withdrew initial story about white phosphorus, " US 'used chemical arms' in Iraq" and replaced it with headline " US 'uses incendiary arms' in Iraq" Story now focuses on the use of White phosphorus as an incendiary weapon in a CCW unlawful fashion, not as chemical weapon. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4417024.stm
Rai News in Italy have an artile and a video of the use of white phosphorus bombs in Iraq: http://www.rainews24.rai.it/Notizia.asp?NewsID=57784 So, US did not "seem" to have used it in Iraq. They did. If it is banned by a treaty is the dispute
I've updated that section to indicate that white phosphorous is not banned but its use is restricted as per this link [1]. I understand that the US hasn't signed this protocol --Lee Hunter 14:48, 8 November 2005 (UTC).
New addition to WP effects
<< Detonating a WP shell will cause an effect comparable to the use of lung agent poison gases for those exposed to the gas. Death will occur from lung edema, phosphoric acid poisoning or the resulting shock, or burns while leaving clothes and other solid material intact. Most victims would die from the second cause, as in a confined area it is hardly avoidable to inhale a considerable quantity of smoke, which will immediately dissolve to form concentrated phosphoric acid in the lungs and airways, leading to a condition similar to phosgene poisoning, but (due to the higher concentration of phosphorous oxide smoke) with a more rapid onset, death from shock or lung edema occurring after a short time. >>
I'm sorry, if I am doing this wrong, I have not tried to discuss a point of contenion before. I am curious of the source of the above statement. Looking through the history, I see this is a recent addition. I also see that someone removed "detonating in an enclosed space, such as a building." I find it odd, in the timing of this post, that this comment would show up. Also, I noticed a recent article on informationclearinghouse.com quoting the above line.